Friday, April 10, 2015

Thankfully, No Little Monkeys Are Jumping on the Bed, TToT week #95

Back in March, I announced that I was doing this here A-Z Challenge, and I asked people to suggest problems for which they could use some help, especially problems that start with the letter J. My faithful friends and readers came up with:

A child puts a jelly bean up his nose.

1. I am thankful that I never had a child get a jelly bean or anything else stuck in his nose. However, I will always remember an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" in which there was a question as to how to get a stuck cocoa puff out of a child's nose. Robert's answer was the correct one: Crunch and blow. Crunch the cereal by squeezing his nose, then blow it out. Now, jelly beans don't crunch so... well... try some tweezers? Or make the kid drink some milk then tickle him to get the milk to come out his nose and flush that piece of candy out?

Kids jumping on the bed.

2. I am thankful that my kids do not jump on the bed (anymore). When each child moved out of his crib, he moved to a twin mattress on the floor. No box springs. No bed frame. We figured a kid new to a bed might fall out more often than normal, so we kept the height of the bed nice and low. And let him jump on it to his heart's content. (Mattresses on hard floors do not bounce much, thus the kid didn't bounce much.) We left the bed like this for at least a year, well after the child got bored with bouncing on a non-bouncy bed. By the time the bed frame came along, he had gotten it out of his system, I guess. They never went back to it.

I have some non-J thankfuls from this week, too, since I've really fudged my lists the last few weeks.

3. I am thankful that we were able to go to my favorite Mass of the year. (Easter Vigil) Most people have never been to the Easter Vigil, because they are worried about how long it is and how late it starts. Yes, it is longer than a normal Mass, but it is just plain beautiful. There are so many things that happen that don't happen at a normal Mass. Yes, it starts after the little kids' bedtime, but, in fact, Cuckoo behaves better during the 2 to two and a half hour service than he does during a normal one hour Sunday Mass. If you've never been, I highly recommend you try it at least once.

4. I am thankful that Lent is over and we can go back to having our Friday School Is Over for the Week celebratory half-priced milk shakes.

5. I am thankful for awesome friends who think of us when they have extra tickets. Bryan and Giant were able to go to the Duke vs. Wisconsin game on Monday. I'm pretty sure Giant would rank it as one of the best nights of his life. The boy loves, loves, loves March Madness (He actually debated going on vacation because it would mean missing so many games.), so this was like a dream come true, except he never would have dreamed he'd be sitting in the seats he was in. (16th row!)

6. I am thankful for people willing to help a girl (who can't be at 4 places at the same time) out. Bryan was out of town most of this week, which just happens to be when all sports went into full swing. Games and practices were all going on at the same time all over town, and some families were nice enough to drive my kids where they needed (or I needed them) to be.

7. I am thankful that rain and storms caused the cancellation of several games and practices this week. Sure, our schedules changed by the second, and we had to be prepared for any and all eventualities, but we survived and I didn't lose track of a single kid.

8. I am thankful that after three weeks off, I finally had the time one morning to go to the gym again. Being sore feels really good.

9. I am thankful that I managed to get some much-needed cleaning done. Granted, some of it got done because I had Cuckoo skip preschool on Thursday, but it got done.

10. I am thankful that (thus far) I have been able to keep up with the writing of posts for the A-Z Challenge, and so far they seem to be well-received. Can't say I've kept up on reading new ones from the gigantic list, but I'll get to that this weekend.

So, what has happened this week that made you smile? Got any advice for people who have kids with jelly beans up their noses? Speak up!

And have a lovely day!


Ten Things of Thankful


 Your hosts

Join the Ten Things of Thankful Facebook Group

46 comments:

  1. Excellent a-z posts so far!!! How exciting that two of your boys went to the duke-Wisconsini game! My picks stunk so bad. I think I had Villanova winning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mine stunk so bad because I had KY losing early. I tend to make wild picks and then win or lose. I am now nicknamed Tall Man, the NeverBoring. Tall Man cause we use only code names. And that's mine.

      Delete
    2. Thank you, Sarah.

      My bracket was horrendous. I had heard that a person had just as good a chance at winning their bracket pool by flipping a coin, so I gave it a try. I knew I was in trouble with my first flip and had UK losing in the first round. I had Coastal Carolina going to the final four. Actually, in my bracket, only one first seeded team made it past the first round. Horrible bracket.

      Delete
  2. My kids never stuck anything up their noses. I am thankful for that.
    I am jealous that your two got to go to the Duke v Wisconsin game! I enjoy college basketball, especially SEC basketball.
    I am having a ball with the A to Z Challenge! I even have two posts almost completely pre-written!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A very good thing for which to be thankful.

      You should have seen how green the boys in Giant's class were. I'm so glad he got to go.

      You do seem to be having fun. You picked a good theme.

      Delete
  3. #1 is hilarious.
    I don't think I've stuck anything up my nose. ... I was reminded of the time when my classmates and I tried to make one another laugh while drinking milk at school lunch. We were nine or ten years old then.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've got some odd readers it seems.

      I haven't either, but seeing someone with milk spewing from his nose is hilarious. :)

      Delete
  4. Great post the jelly bean reminds me of a story back in the day when we hung out on my sister's boat we all hanging on the sound closer to Conn. and some of the kids were in the water all day by evening all the kids were getting ready to settle down and my sister's nephew was screaming and crying his ear was hurting somehow they made there way to a hospital in Conn there his parents were told that they see a mass and it needs to be removed talk about panic a mass on a 4 year old the doctor took the boy in a room and my sister's SIL and BIL waited thinking that they were going to perform surgery in a few minutes the doc came sid he was fine and showed them what was in ear an actual bean the water while they were swimming expanded the bean.... My sister's SIl later told us that a few days prior her son was telling her his brother put a bean in ear she of course looked didn't see it LOL

    My mom went to the Easter Vigil and told me that it was beautiful - next year I'd like to go too. sounds like a great week especially for Giant - a-z challenge is terrific. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahahaha!! I feel bad for the poor kid, but that is hilarious.

      Oh, do go. It is beautiful. I tear up every year.

      It was most certainly a good week for Giant.

      Thank you!

      Delete
  5. I stuck a bead up my nose at four years old and my family still references it. Im 52. Your a to z has been stellar!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have twin neices who jump on the bed too. Can be a little problematic!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I imagine it would be, especially if they jump on the same bed at the same time. :)

      Delete
  7. The tickling idea with the milk is my favorite idea to get anything out of the nose. Basketball is my very favorite sport. I have been really enjoying your A-Z posts. Looking forward to some more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honestly, it's just funny to see anyone with milk flowing out of his nose. :)

      It is a fun one to watch. Plenty of action.

      Thank you!

      Delete
  8. They do outgrow the nose-stuffing and bed-jumping, one of life's blessings.
    Great thankful list, as always. You remind me to pause and feel grateful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No joke. Thankfully, they are short-lived phases.

      Thank you. I'm glad you like them. Join in anytime! :)

      Delete
  9. I have an enormous amount of respect for everyone doing the A-Z challenge, but YOU, with all you've got going on, are the most impressive! I know what you mean about that good sore feeling - I sometimes have it when I do two days of PT back to back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ack, everyone is busy, just in different ways. But thank you. :)

      PT most certainly made me sore. Whoo, those sessions could be rough.

      Delete
  10. You and I were both thankful for the chance to get some house cleaning done this week. Just keeping it real at TToT!
    May@AchievingClarity

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! Does it say something that we are happy to have some time to clean?

      Delete
  11. You have much to be thankful for. I love reading your thankful posts. They always make me smile.

    Have a fabulous weekend. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I most certainly do. I'm glad you like them.

      Delete
  12. Jumping on the bed. Heehee. I loved doing that as a kid, it was just so hard not to. Embarrassing confession: I *actually* still jump on the bed sometimes. Especially to annoy my husband when he is trying to sleep, I will make a run for the bed and jump on it with all my might. Hahaha!! I am such a mean wife!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha!! Not mean, FUN! I don't consider that jumping on the bed...simply bouncing onto it. :) Not gonna lie, I've done the same. Not recently, seeing as how I'd probably break a hip...

      Delete
  13. I got NOTHING for the jellybean. Except maybe a warm compress to try to melt it out or something. Eeek!

    YAY YOU! You've achieved so much this week and it's wonderful and awesome and BRILLIANT how much you've gotten done. I love that you didn't lose track of a single kid, and that you even managed to get to the gym and get your cleaning done. You are a power house :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. EW!

      Nah, just a mom doing what needs done.

      We'll see how the next two weeks go. They are gonna be a doozy. At least Bryan will be here to help out. :)

      Delete
  14. As a child, my sister once got a plastic bead stuck in her ear canal. It was in so deep my mom had to take her to the doctor with the special tweezers to get it out. My sister was scared like you wouldn't believe, which may or may not have been caused by me telling her horror stories about never getting it out ever again..

    I can imagine that the Vigil is something very special. Back when I still was a christian, the year after my confirmation, our youth group prepared an early morning vigil. It was so much fun cleaning this tiny little chapel at the cemetery, which still had a bell you had to operate by pulling a rope. The service started very early morning, and it was very intimate, with lots of candles and a really nice service, followed by a breakfast together at around 7 or so. Thanks for sharing this thankful and bringing back the memories :-)

    Have a wonderful week, Christine!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stephanie! I never would have pegged you as someone who would torture a sister like that! Gotta say, I like it. :)

      That sounds like a wonderful experience. I'm glad I could remind you of it.

      Delete
  15. hahahaha this list has me laughing! My mother is an expert at Things Stuck in Face Holes! From peanuts to pearls, to my cousin George who got a POOL CUE BALL stuck inside his mouth. Twice. In the same night. The key is to get the person to RELAX. With the nose holes? Massive breathing IN through the mouth and OUT through the nose holes. The cue ball? She had to full-on massage his jawline, get my dad to hold his mouth open and WEDGE the thing out the 2nd time. This is like our family legacy. Could be worse I guess?
    Glad you're getting some exercise, never thought you would fight so hard to get some, ey??? I don't know how you do it with all the kids, sports, nose holes and everything else! You're amazing :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OK, the cue ball makes me laugh. How old was George at the time? My son (old enough to drive, but apparently not old-enough-to-know-better) dislocated his jaw once by stuffing 40 Tootsie Rolls in his mouth. He was the talk of the ER that night!

      Delete
    2. HAHAHAHAHA!!! That is horribly hilarious. I can't even imagine! I vomited on my orthodontist assistant when I was a kid when they took a form of my mouth. A cue ball would have about killed me. Not that I would ever put a cue ball in my mouth... WHY?!?!

      Kristi! Dislocated his jaw?!?!? That sounds terribly painful! I'm guessing those nurses and doctors are still talking about it!

      Delete
    3. He won the "How many Tootsie Rolls can you stuff in your mouth" game. He had to win, he said, because he didn't have $5 to pay up if he lost. After he won the game and removed the Tootsie Rolls, he realized he could not shut his mouth. He came home, open-jawed and holding a Dixie cup of chocolate drool. If only that $5 saved could have covered the ER bill. :-)

      About a minute after the doctor man-handled my son's jaw back into place, another doctor rushed in, asking, "Did I miss it?"

      Delete
    4. Hahahaha!!! This story gets better and better! Poor kid, but man, how can we not laugh. In hindsight, of course. ;)

      Well, at least you raised him to be responsible, knowing he should always cover his bets and all.

      Delete
    5. Oh, I wasn't even kind enough to wait until hindsight. I was sad for his pain, but I'm pretty sure I laughed that night at least once. Poor kid.

      Delete
    6. Oh, I wasn't even kind enough to wait until hindsight. I was sad for his pain, but I'm pretty sure I laughed that night at least once. Poor kid.

      Delete
  16. "...to go to the gym again. Being sore feels really good."
    what a great line.

    being my first Anti-Matter April Hoedown, I have nothing to compare it to…but I too am grateful that there's only 23 letters left to go. (then I'm sure everything I think of for a topic will begin with a K or a L….

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. :)

      No kidding. It's always AFTER you write and publish a post that the perfect word comes to mind. Make a note and write it sometime in May.

      Delete
  17. I'm with you--it's hard to find the time to explore the A to Z posts. Maybe in May, when the blogging community takes a collective sigh of relief. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm with you. May sounds like a great time to READ blogs. :)

      Delete
  18. I've been to one Easter Vigil mass. It was special and beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you agree. Why did you go that one year? People I know usually go only when they know someone who is becoming Catholic.

      Delete
  19. My daughter never stuffed things up her nose or into electrical outlets but she did jump on beds! We moved her from the crib to a waterbed (no jumping) so when she got around a regular bed she would jump until exhaustion took over. And she would sing that little 10 little monkeys jumping on the bed rhyme. Too funny looking back on it. Thanks for the happy memory. I hope the coming week brings you many more thankfuls! I love your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Good to know about crunch and blow! We had a lego missile incident that was quickly resolved but I did have thoughts of "great, I'm going to be THAT mom at the doctor's office..." And Tucker still loves jumping on beds. Like, loves.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you're thinking!